India landslides rescue operations speed up with new metal bridge

CHOORALMALA, India - Four people were rescued from a house in India's Kerala state on Friday (Aug 2), three days after devastating landslides, as search operations accelerated after the building of a key bridge that helped transport heavy equipment to the affected area.

Heavy rain in the southern coastal state of Kerala, one of India's most popular tourist destinations, caused landslides in the hills of Wayanad district early on Tuesday, sending torrents of mud, water and tumbling boulders downhill and burying or sweeping people to their deaths as they slept.

The disaster, the worst in Kerala since deadly floods in 2018, has led to the death of 195 people with nearly 200 still missing, authorities said. Local Asianet TV said 292 had been killed. 

Two men and two women were found alive by the army in a marooned, remote area on Friday, V T Mathew, a top army commander, said.

"They were not buried, they were just in a remote area," he told Reuters, adding that one of them was injured.

Rescue efforts were hampered initially after Mundakkai, the worst affected area, was cut off from the nearest town of Chooralmala as the main bridge connecting them was washed away. 

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Heavy vehicles had begun to ply on the 190-foot (58-metre) bridge constructed by army engineers, and drones with earth-sensing technology to find bodies buried in mud are being brought in, the army said in a statement.

Rescue teams have deployed additional forces, including swimming experts, to focus on the Chaliyar river and its river banks where bodies are likely to be found.

Experts said the area had received heavy rain in the last two weeks that softened the soil before extremely heavy rainfall on Monday triggered the landslides.

Nearly 1,600 people have been rescued from hillside villages and tea and cardamom estates during the last two days, according to authorities, with nearly 350 buildings damaged.

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